daWraith

Imphat your IQ is so low you couldn't poor pizz out a of boot if the directions were on the heel.

The financial meltdown players were virtually 100% Democrats. The two main events that culminated in the 2008 train wreck were the Repeal of hte Glass_Steagull act and the expansion of the CRA, both signed into law by Bill "BJ" Clinton.

Thebudman

Obama's Medical Devices Tax May Be Harmful to Your Health By John A. Sparks

January 16, 2013

Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared in The Washington Times.

With the start of the New Year, one of the little noticed but potentially harmful features of Obamacare has now gone into effect. It is the tax on medical device manufacturers. The new tax of 2.3 percent is placed on the revenues of companies that produce medical devices such as heart valves, insulin pumps, and hundreds of thousands of carefully engineered and regularly improved testing, diagnostic, and treatment products that make modern medicine in the United States the envy of the world.

"Medical devices" are a central part of routine daily medical care. Anyone visiting the emergency room with a child or grandchild dehydrated by a bout with the flu will find that the tr

impact

LogHog

yes Dino...the rates were in the 20-25% range and so was inflation..current interest rates should be from 5-10%..not zero to 2-3 %....the federal reserve banks and the federal govt. has a big problem...they the fed.banks need to raise rates,but if they do, the federal govt. will be in even wosre shape..can't pay it's bills now..borrowing to pay interest now..so when the*****breaks and interest goes up...the us dollar and the federal govt. goes down with the rabbit whole

WVEXPAT

From the NY Times, "WASHINGTON — Top executives at firms that received taxpayer bailouts during the financial crisis continue to receive generous government-approved compensation packages, a Treasury watchdog said in a report released on Monday." "The watchdog, commonly called Sigtarp, found that 68 out of 69 executives at Ally Financial, the American International Group and General Motors received annual compensation of $1 million or more, with the Treasury’s signoff."

So let's appoint Jack Lew (who made $1 million bonus from Citi Banks bailout) to run the Treasury! I'm sure he'll put an end to this practice!! LOL

WVEXPAT

I believe the Fed's initial goal was too spur employment by flooding cash into the economy, however Wall Street and large corporations that have the resources to navigate the tsunami of regulations have benefited. The unintended consequence of the Fed's play is that the usual drivers of job growth, Mom/Pop & start ups have been shunned!

WVEXPAT

From MSNBC , "An analysis of recently released Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data by the Investigative Reporting Workshop shows that overall commercial and industrial lending by banks has increased for five straight quarters, but small loans to business of $1 million or less have been shrinking consistently since June 2008. As of Sept. 30, total outstanding loan volume was down 14.7 percent from its peak."

"The numbers are especially troubling because businesses with fewer than 500 employees created 65 percent of the jobs between 1993 and 2009, according to the Small Business Administration. But in a November survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, a small business advocacy group, only 7 percent said the next three months would be a "good time to expand."

WVEXPAT

Saving account rates are now 1% or less and this hurts seniors who have historically relied on savings accounts for income. Insurers and pension funds are also facing tough times because of the Fed's manipulation. Of course these artificially low rates are part of the reason the stock market is doing so well, but it comes at the price of higher commodity prices and a reduction of purchasing power. Wall Street and large corporations enjoy the "free" money, but the poor, elderly and small businesses feel the pain.

Triton

I own some stock, not enough to mean much though it did cause me to watch the market. Often the remarks here are intersting in how they are tailored by politicians or media. The most common alibi for more job loss is the once again chant BUUUUUSH. But thats pretty lame. So here is something to research if you like if for no other than to see how people accept things. When Bush was in office the stock had its highest peaks in our history, nearly everyday for years a new historical high and ordinary people made fortunes. Toward the end of his last year, a recession began and only then did Obama mention the economy, before that his campaign was about Iraq. The recession/foreclosure issue was about 14% of the time Bush was in office, Obama politicized the economy and used "recessio" the way Bush used "terror" to justify things. OBama has taken a mild recession and turned it into a trench with spending and foreign aid gifts. Bush was a small piece of this nightmare

DinoCrocetti

Whgfeel I have little idea what you meant by your comment especially this, "we can't babysit your or our comments like some no lifer." Unlike some on here I don't try to demean others by cutely changing THEIR names. I try to comment on the person's comments not who they are. I would seriously like to know an educated reputal to the anti Obama's comments mentioned by others.

Thebudman

"what? the dow? say what? it rose to the highest since 2007? makes ya wonder."

Here's part of the answer. The M2 Money Supply as of today is $ 10,678,275,000,000. On this day in 2008, it was $ 7,575,220,000,000. The printing presses of the Fed have been busy printing money with nothing to back it. Based on that, you estimate today's DOW to be around 9,800 in 2008 dollars.